MC: CORRECTION: I was reading through the story, and I noticed that I had Inutouga, Tashio, and Inu for the emperor. It's supposed to be Inutashio. Sorry about the confusion on the names, I can't believe I didn't catch that! Again, I apologize for the mistake, and I hope you all have enjoyed the story so far.

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Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.

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Chapter Seven

Kagome awoke the next morning to a horrible backache. She stretched, groaning at the sharp pain that traveled up her spine. "Ugg, this really sucks..."

"Kagome?"

At the sound of her name, Kagome sat up quickly, her eyes wide as Sango's face appeared. "Good morning, Kagome. I brought you breakfast."

"Thank you, Sango." Kagome sighed, smiling as she accepted the warm bowl. "I wish I could be a nurse or something. You know how irritating it is to sleep on the ground?"

"Trust me, dear, I've slept on the ground plenty of times." Sango giggled, winking at her. "Hurry and get dressed. The men are about to get ready for training."

"Thanks again, Sango!" Kagome called as the nurse disappeared. Myoga suddenly jumped into view. "So you've already made a new friend! That's nice."

"I know, right?" Kagome smiled, finishing off the last of her breakfast before working to tape up her curves. "Sometimes, I wish I wasn't a girl."

"I'd be scared if you weren't." Myoga sighed, leaving the tent to give his ward a little privacy. "Hurry, I see them emerging from their tents."

"I'm trying…just a bit more…yes!" Kagome stood, smiling gleefully as she hurriedly started getting dressed, careful not to step on the still sleeping Shippo. This day is already starting out great!

...

Today really sucks, Kagome thought bitterly as she hobbled towards her tent. The sun was setting across the horizon, and the troops had just finished their training. Kagome sighed as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, frowning when she caught the scent of seawater. Great, now my hair is going to be all nasty and gritty and…ugh!

Myoga was sitting on top the branch the tent was on, scribbling something on a piece of paper with a miniature brush. He looked up as Kagome neared the tent, a big grin on his face. "Good evening, Kagome. How was your first day of training?"

Kagome just gave him a blank expression before slowly crawling into the tent, plopping down onto her makeshift bed before groaning. "I absolutely hate the army. My body aches all over, and my hair is filthy. How do you think it went?"

Myoga appeared on her arm, shaking his head as he sighed. "My apologies for asking. What did you do?"

"Horrid, manly stuff." Kagome sighed, shuddering at the thought and she absently patted Shippo's head as she moved to sit up. The kit wrinkled it's black nose slightly at her before scooting towards the opening of the tent. "I was picked on the whole time because I couldn't catch a stupid fish, then when we were running through Kami knows where, I was pushed into the ocean! Then I got scolded for a good bit by Mr. Prissy Pants, which caused me to get pushed around and made fun of even more…I swear, men are the nastiest beings on earth."

Myoga just furrowed his brows as he hopped off her arm, landing next to her face. He sighed, patting her cheek in sympathy. "It'll be okay. I did some exploring while you were away training, and there's a nice, quiet lake towards the north of camp, about a half a mile away. There's lots of bulrushes and trees, so you'll be safe."

Kagome thought for a minute, nibbling her lip before smiling softly at the insect. "Thanks, Myoga, I think I'll go. Buyo needs to stretch his legs anyway."

...

"Oh my good Kami, this is amazing." Kagome sighed contently, leaning back against the sun-warmed rock. She giggled when she felt something tickling her leg, and opened her eyes to see Shippo splashing happily in the water next to her. Myoga sat cross-legged on a rock next to the shore, his large, buggy eyes drooping as he listened out for intruders. Buyo grazed among the tall weeds a few yards away, every once in a while belting out a soft whinny of happiness.

"Hey, Myoga?" Kagome called, shifting so she could look at the flea. "I know you can't tell me much about Papa, but…can you at least tell me how he died?"

Myoga stilled for a moment, memories flooding over him as he thought. After a few moments, he replied, the sadness laced in his voice, "Well, I really don't know. I could not find him in the chaos, until it was too late. But I know that he died with great honor."

"Oh…" Kagome slid down further into the water until only her head was visible, before taking a deep breath and going under water. When she came back up, she heard a scream, before hearing Myoga call her name frantically. Blinking her eyes open, Kagome stared wide-eyed at a pale-faced Sango, who was backed up against an annoyed Buyo, pointing a shaking finger at Myoga. "What the hell is that?"

"Shh, woman, you'll alert someone!" Myoga said frantically, earning another shriek from Sango. "And it talks!"

"Sango, please!" Kagome hissed, coming up to the shore as much as she dared without coming up out of the water. "I'll explain everything, just please don't scream again!"

Sango quickly put a hand to her mouth, her eyes wide as she continued to stare at Myoga. Kagome just sighed, glancing at Myoga as he hid his face behind his six hands. "Myoga, could you please go elsewhere until we're done?"

"Of c-course, milady." Myoga stammered, turning and disappearing into the bulrushes. Sango blinked, then snapped her gaze to Kagome, who was looking at her warily. "Please, explain to me what the hell that thing was."

"That was my guardian, Myoga." Kagome started hesitantly, biting her lower lip as Sango stared at her owlishly. "Your…guardian?"

Nodding, Kagome scooted back into the water to where it was up to her neck and folded her legs up under her. "I know, it's weird that they sent me a flea, but who am I to question my ancestors?"

Sango just shook her head in disbelief, closing her eyes as she sank down onto the rock Myoga was previously occupying. "Of all the other crazy things that have happened these past few days, this shouldn't surprise me."

"Oops?" Kagome grinned sheepishly. Suddenly both girls were on alert as the sounds of whooping came from the direction of camp. "Oh no!" Kagome groaned, pushing herself further from shore. Sango stood up, quickly disrobing before diving into the water. She popped up next to Kagome, her brown eyes shining as she nodded towards a large rock a ways away from them. "If you can swim over there real quick, I can distract them enough to give you time to get out."

Kagome gave her a shocked look, and Sango rolled her eyes. "They wouldn't dare lay a hand on me. Sesshoumaru has quite acute hearing, and I'm sure no one wants to see the consequences if they do try anything. Just go!"

Kagome nodded, turning and diving under the water in time for a few soldiers to round the path. Their eyes widened as they caught sight of Sango, slight blushes appearing on their face. "L-Lady Sango –"

"Go away, I'm trying to bathe. I'm pretty sure I told Jaken to tell you idiots that, but I guess all men are incompetent." Sango growled, glaring at the soldiers as they began to slowly back away. "Go tell the others to wait until I get out, and if anyone has anything to say about it, you can all go discuss it with Sesshoumaru-sama, though I'm pretty sure we all know where that'll end up."

The soldiers let out yelps as they turned on their heels and ran away, shouting out warnings to the other soldiers. Sango smiled deviously, glancing over to the rock, where she saw Kagome climb out of the water and snatch a cloth from Buyo's back, carrying a huffing wet Shippo with her before blending in with the shadows of the forest.

...

"Kami, that was so close!" Kagome giggled, stretching her arms high above her head as Myoga shook his head at her disapprovingly. "Kagome-sama, do you not realize how close you were to being discovered? That does not need to happen again."

"Come on, Myoga, lighten up." Kagome flashed him a dazzling smile before patting Buyo's neck softly. "Buyo would've protected me, and I'm sure of it. Plus, Sango's got my back, so –"

"You incompetent toad!"

"General, please! I was carrying out orders from Lord Inutashio!"

Kagome and Myoga exchanged looks, nodding before slowly making their way past the tent where the shadows of Sesshoumaru and Jaken were.

"So he told you to write out false statements about my training and my troops?" Sesshoumaru growled, glaring at the pale-faced man in front of him. "We've only been at this for a week, how do you expect any improvement so soon?"

"Milord, please!" Jaken whined, taking a few steps back from him. "I just did what your father asked me to do – give a report of how your men were doing, and honestly, it's way less than satisfactory! Especially the Higurashi boy!"

Sesshoumaru paused, his golden eyes flashing as he continued to glare down at Jaken. "It matters not. The point is, you're soiling my good name to my own father. Get out."

Jaken winced at the harsh tone, but obliged as he quickly exited the tent, leaving Sesshoumaru to himself. He sank into a nearby chair, suddenly feeling dejected. Why does father always do this to me? It's like he's testing me to see if I'm even worthy of being his son…

A sudden noise outside roused him from his thoughts, and as he stepped out of his tent, his eyes widened at the side. Jaken was currently trapped between two soldiers, his arms pinned to his sides as Sango grinned evilly down at him. Soldiers stood around them, some smiling along with Sango, others looking at him with pity. "Look here, idiot. I know that you sent these other idiots," she waved at the soldiers, "to come and spy on me, thinking I'm some lowly traitor, that I'm sneaking off to whatever the hell it is that your tiny peanut brain conjured." She spat in disgust, causing Jaken to whimper.

"P-Please, Lady Sango, I w-was just –"

"Just nothing, my ass!" Sango growled, cracking her knuckles as she took a step towards him. "What you don't realize is I can probably take down over half these soldiers in about five minutes. You forget who I am."

"I-I'm sorry!" Jaken wailed, tears streaming down his face. Sesshoumaru decided to step in then, clearing his throat to gain his troops attention. "It's past curfew, and torturing Jaken isn't getting you anywhere."

"Oh thank you milord-"

"I'll deal with you later, if what Lady Sango says is true." Sesshoumaru said coldly. "As for the rest of you, get to bed."

Kagome had watched the whole display, her eyes wide as the group began to disperse. Sango huffed, stomping off towards the medical tent, mumbling to herself.

"We better disappear, Kagome." Myoga muttered from her bun, and Kagome blinked, shaken out of her reverie. She sighed, once more grasping Buyo's halter before leading them to the tent.

"Higurashi."

Kagome flinched, her eyes wide as she slowly turned to face Sesshoumaru. He had moved towards her, and was now standing only a few feet from her. His golden eyes burned into her blue ones, searching for something. Kagome fought the urge to blush as he continued his study of her, but then turned abruptly, disappearing into his tent.

Letting out her breath that she didn't realize she was holding, Kagome had to hold herself steady on Buyo to keep from falling, her legs were shaking so bad. Get a grip, Kagome, he's your superior, and he thinks you're a guy.

But that look…

Kagome shook her head violently, her bun whipping around as she laughed to herself.

The mighty Lord Sesshoumaru did not swing that way.

...

MC: I have mixed feelings about this chapter. I'm not entirely sure this was how I wanted it to go, but as long as you guys are okay with it, so am I. =) I think Sango ganging up on Jaken was a little much for this chapter, but I just want to get the point across to Sango's position within the army.

Please R&R! =)